Ben & Jerry’s Goes Globally Nuts for Fair Trade

Full Expansion to Fair Trade Ingredients to be Completed by 2013

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ben & Jerry’s announces its commitment to go fully Fair Trade across its
entire global flavor portfolio. From Cherry Garcia to Chocolate Fudge
Brownie, all of the flavors in all of the countries where Ben & Jerry’s
is sold will be converted to Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients by the
end of 2013.

Ben & Jerry’s was the first ice cream company in the world to use Fair
Trade Certified™ ingredients starting in 2005, and today it’s racing
ahead as the first ice cream company to make such a significant
commitment to Fair Trade across its global portfolio.

Company co-founder Jerry Greenfield said, ”Fair Trade is about making
sure people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of Fair
Trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong.
Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.”

Ben & Jerry’s Fair Trade commitment means that every ingredient that can
be sourced Fair Trade Certified™, now or in the future, is Fair Trade
Certified™. Globally, this involves converting up to 121 different
chunks and swirls, working across eleven different ingredients such as
cocoa, banana, vanilla and other flavorings, fruits and nuts. It also
means working with Fair Trade cooperatives that total a combined
membership of over 27,000 farmers.

Rob Cameron, Chief Executive of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations
International (FLO) said, “Congratulations to Ben & Jerry’s on the scale
and the depth of this commitment to take their whole range Fair Trade.
Tackling poverty and sustainable agriculture through trade may not be
easy but it is always worth it, and Ben & Jerry’s has demonstrated real
leadership in laying out this long-term ambition to engage with
smallholders, who grow nuts, bananas, vanilla, cocoa and other Fair
Trade-certified ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s, like all of us in the Fair
Trade movement, believe that people can have fun standing up to
injustice and campaigning against poverty while enjoying some of Ben &
Jerry’s best-selling favorites like Phish Food and Chocolate Fudge
Brownie, how cool is that.”

Farmers selling Fair Trade products earn a better income, which allows
them to stay on their land. Fair Trade premiums also allow for
reinvestment in their farms, their families, their communities and their
future. Fair Trade means that certified farmers are using
environmentally sound practices to grow and harvest their crops in a
sustainable way.

About Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., was founded in 1978 in a renovated gas
station in Burlington, Vermont, USA, by childhood friends and dedicated
activists Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. The two friends started their
ice cream careers with a $5 ice cream making correspondence course from
Penn State University and a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of which was
borrowed). They soon became popular in the local community for their
innovative flavours, made from fresh Vermont milk and cream and large
portions of whatever ingredients they felt tasted good on the day of
making! While they both disagreed at times over flavour combinations,
what they did both agree was that they were in this business to create
some good in the world and enjoy themselves while they earned a living.
Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of
Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement
emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the
community. The goal of the company’s social mission is to integrate a
concern for the community into as many day to day business operations as
possible while maintaining the product and economic missions. The move
to fair trade ingredients is driven by that commitment.